Wesendonck Lieder – Wagner's Women

About the Programme

Wagner was susceptible to female charm throughout his life, but three women in particular are recognised as having exerted an enormous influence in the shaping of Wagner’s life as a creative artist. Two of these, Wagner married. First, the long-suffering Minna, and then Cosima, Liszt's daughter. Although the third woman cast a spell during a much briefer period in Wagner’s life, Mathilde Wesendonck inspired some of the most ravishingly beautiful music ever written.

In ‘Wagner's Women’, music inspired by these women and performed by soprano Nancy Yuen and pianist Warren Lee, will be put in context through readings by Jonathan Douglas. The programme will include Wesendonck Lieder, Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde in Liszt's transcription for piano, a piano transcription of the Siegfried Idyll by Glenn Gould and also one of the Bridal Chorus piano transcriptions from Lohengrin.

Who knows, perhaps ‘Wagner's Women’ will inspire you too.

About the Performer

Soprano: Nancy Yuen

Piano: Warren Lee

Script Writer / Reader: Jonathan Douglas

Nancy Yuen, Soprano

One of the most outstanding and exciting singers from Asia, Nancy Yuen made her debut upon graduation from the Royal Academy of Music, London, with the Welsh National Opera, singing the title role of Madama Butterfly to great critical acclaim. She has since reprised the role all over the world, notably with the English National Opera, Scottish Opera, West Australian Opera, Opera Queensland, Opera Northern Ireland, Singapore Lyric Opera (SLO), Bangkok Opera (BO), the New Zealand International Festival of Arts, the Barbados Opera Festival, at the Royal Albert Hall for Raymond Gubbay Limited in 1998, 2000 and 2003.

A celebrated recitalist and versatile concert artist, she performs regularly with major orchestras and choral societies. Her appearances have included performances with Christopher Hogwood, Trevor Pinnock, Richard Armstrong, Carlo Rizzi, Helmuth Rilling, Tsung Yeh and orchestras such as the London Mozart Players, BBC Concert Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Tivoli Symphony Orchestra and the Shanghai Opera Orchestra. Leading roles of newly written operas such as Mae Naak, Ayudhya and the Zheng He Cantata, have been written specially for her.

As an educator, Nancy has given masterclasses in Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and China. She was one of the adjudicators for the 59th Hong Kong Schools Music Festival in 2007 and was also one of the panel judges for the Competizione dell’Opera organized by Opera Bremen, Germany in 2009.

As an opera director, she has staged Salieri’s Prima la Musica and Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte and also excerpts from Die Zauberflöte, The Merry Widow, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Giulio Cesare.

In 2011 she sang Mae Naak in London and the role of Soong Chingling in the world premiere of Dr. Sun Yat-sen with Opera Hong Kong and in 2012 she sang Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) with SLO. In 2013 she makes her role debut as Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello with Opera Siam and revives her role as Violetta in La Traviata with SLO. Nancy was the Head of Vocal Studies at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore from 2003 to 2010. She joins the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts as Head of Vocal Studies in March 2010.

Warren Lee, Piano

Since his televised début with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra at the tender age of six, Hong Kong-born pianist Warren Lee was destined for a lifelong career in music, both on and off the stage. His life as a child prodigy was documented on Hong Kong Television Broadcasts’ “Sunday’s File” in 1993, and has since been frequently shown by universities as a teaching reference on “gifted education”.

Graduated from the Royal Academy of Music and Yale School of Music with the highest of honors, Warren was the first-prize winner of the 1995 Stravinsky Awards International Piano Competition and the “Grand Prix Ivo Pogorelich”. Hailed by The Strait Times as a musician with “superb pianism… a wonderful sense of colour and impeccably controlled articulation”, Warren’s artistry has brought him to concert stages in four continents, appearing on prominent occasions such as the Weekend Series at the National Center for Performing Arts in Beijing, Ivo Pogorelich Festival in Germany, the Taos Chamber Music Festival and the Yale Piano Symposium in the United States, as well as the ABRSM Gala Concert, Yale 300th Anniversary Gala Dinner and the Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award Ceremony in Hong Kong. In 2009, he was named a “Steinway Artist”, joining a distinguished roster of concert pianists in the world; and in 2012, received the Ten Outstanding Young Persons Award in Hong Kong, in recognition of his outstanding achievements in the performing arts and exemplary contribution to the community.

As a recording artist, he has made over a dozen recordings for Radio Television Hong Kong, and has also served as its Artist-in-Residence in consecutive years. His solo album, “From Bach To Gershwin”, released in 2008 on Universal Music (Hong Kong), has received critical acclaim for its contribution to music education. Audio Land Magazine calls it a “successful album that Hong Kong can be proud of.”

Warren devotes much of his time off the stage advancing various education initiatives. He is currently the Music Director of St. Paul’s Co-educational College and Primary School, a role that led him to rekindle his passion for composing. His recent choral compositions have been gaining worldwide recognition and are published by Porfiri and Horváth (Germany) and Pavane Publishing (USA). He is co-currently a Guest Professor at the Central Conservatory of Music EOS Orchestra Academy, an Honorary Artist-in-Residence at the Hong Kong Institute of Education, an Adjunct Lecturer at the Hong Kong Baptist University and the Hong Kong Representative of Royal Academy of Music. Warren has also served as a Visiting Artist in the University of Tasmania Conservatorium of Music in Australia as well as in the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore. Elected a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma that honours academic achievement in the study of business, Warren holds an MBA degree from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Jonathan Douglas, Script Writer/Reader

Broadcaster/musician, Jonathan Douglas, is known to radio listeners as the presenter of programmes on classical music and the arts. He has also played the piano professionally for many years and regularly performs his own original piano music and songs. He appeared with his sons Cameron and Jamie at the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe. His solo piano music was used as part of the soundtrack to the movie, West of Thunder. His acting credits in Hong Kong include Hamlet and Richard the Second in Shakespeare, and leading roles in 20th century classics by Pinter, Eliot, Beckett and Chekhov. In 2009 Jonathan was awarded the MBE for his services to British Arts in Hong Kong. ‘Wagner’s Women’ is his third in a series of LCSD anniversary events, following Liszt and Debussy celebrations in 2011 and 2012.

Ticketing

Tickets available from 9 August onwards at all URBTIX outlets, on Internet and Telephone Credit Card Booking.

Ticket and Concession

Half-price tickets available for senior citizens aged 60 or above, people with disabilities and the minder, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) recipients (Limited tickets for CSSA recipients available on a first-come-first-served basis).

Programme Length

Running time of the concert is about 1 hour and 30 minutes with no intermission.

Audience are strongly advised to arrive punctually. No latecomers will be admitted until a suitable break in the programme.